The photo above is a visual representation of what Whiting Refinery will look like after the modernization project is complete. The colored sections highlight the parts of the facility that are being constructed or updated. Whiting's reconfigured distillation unit is scheduled to come on stream in the second quarter of 2012. The new Gas Oil Hydrotreater and Coker will be operational in 2013.

BP Whiting Refinery is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal in the communities of Whiting, East Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. It started operations in 1889 and is currently the 6th largest refinery in the USA. The refinery processes up to 405,000 barrels of raw crude oil each day and up to 15 million gallons of refined products. It was one of the first refineries to refine low sulfur gas and ultra low sulfur diesel. The refinery produces about 8% of all asphalt in the U.S. It receives raw crude oil via pipeline, and ships refined product through pipeline to the entire Midwest. Whiting Refinery is committed to meeting all of the environmental regulations and rules that governments have put in place to protect our shared natural environment. From 2001 through 2008, the refinery reduced regulated air emissions 72%. As part of the modernization project, the refinery is removing older, less efficient equipment, and installing emission controls on upgraded and other units, which will help it reduce regulated emissions, even further.

greater energy security in the Midwest, as conventional supplies of the lighter crudes diminish, and are replaced by heavier crudes. With this in mind, the project involves repositioning Whiting to be able to run heavier oil. It involves a new crude distillation unit, a 100,000 barrels/day Coker, new Gas Oil Hydrotreating and Sulfur Recovery units to provide significant additional capacity, and improvements in infrastructure. The aim is to increase the refinery's capability for gasoline and diesel production by about 15%, which is about 1.7 million gallons (or 40,000 barrels) of gasoline and diesel per day.

Community Whiting Refinery supports a number of community programs in Northwest Indiana. For current information on these programs, please visit: http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/gl obal_assets/bp_us_assets/downloads/a/abp_refineries_giving_ back_to_northwest_indiana.pdf